COAST. I ARTILLERY JOURNAL, - Air Defense Artillery

450 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOURNAL
receive from the Harbor Defense Commander an advance copy of the
special situation before D-day and would be informed by him of the
general form the commander desired the action to take. The director
would then in advance of D-day prepare hyp~thetical information
reports from the local Navy forces, Air service, the sub-sector commander,
and information agents of the command, with hours of release
such as would simulate actual war conditions. He would in advance
consider such enemy and Harbor Defense casualties of materiel and
personnel, to be announced during D-day, as will lead the action along'
the lines desired.
This advance preparation has been confined largely to. the commander
and his staff so that the normal activities of the command have
gone on as usual.
D-day and H-hour, previously unknown to all regulars except the
commander, are announced to the command early in the day decided
on, and reports begin to come into the Harbor Defense command post
from the director by phone, he with an assistant having been established
at some other place in the defenses. D-day from 8:00 A. M. until
10:00 P. M. should be divided into three or four periods within each
of which a simulated day of defense will be fought.
The enemy attack will assume some of the various forms listed in
Joint Army and NavJ' Action. There will be an air attack, friendly ships
will be chased into harbor, the usual bombardment and run by, or
better a determined landing attack near the defenses. Smoke and gas
will be used, raids will necessitate the close defense of batteries by their
own rifles and machine guns, small boats may tow targets to simulate
the latter. Major caliber gun crews will have to shift to their secondary
armament. Command posts and sigual communication will be destroyed.
Calls for fire will be received from sub-sector or sector commander.
A battery commander may have actually to move and emplace
a mobile battery during the day, much to his surprise, and a planter
detail may have actually to prepare and plant a mine or so. Care will
be taken that the Surgeon, Quartermaster, Adjutant, Chaplain, and
others of the command usually immune from the annoyance of tactical
inspections are required to concern themselves. With two hours for
meals, out of the fourteen proposed, there remain twelve hours, or three
four-hour hypothetical days, which will of course each include a hypothe'tical
night. All personnel will not be working all the time but as
fiu as possible units will function as snch and at maximum available
strength.
Skeleton harbor defenses will haye more resen.-eand national guard
personnel to draw from to fill various positions but will have to spread